Figure 1. Jacqueline Kiyomi Gordon, A Space for Looking is a Space for Listening (installation view), Western Front, 2016. Ceramic, fabric, extruded aluminum, HSS directional speakers, software. Photo by Maegan Hill-Carroll.

Over the weekend, I had a chance to experience Los Angeles-based artist Jacqueline Kiyomi Gordon’s recent work A Space for Looking is a Space for Listening (2016) at the Western Front Gallery. Her sculptures made out of fabric, foam, wood, plastic, clay and aluminum become support structures of sorts for an intense soundscore (see Fig. 1-3).

Gordon chose to include various objects such as carpets, and ceramics because of their unique additions and subtractions to the acoustic score (played from 2 large devices and a floor amp). The room sound vibrated off some surfaces and was absorbed by others. My body was wrapped in tactile sounds both felt and imagined. As a viewer, I felt that I internalized and responded to the acoustic environment. I could not stay in the space too long either, as I was hit by waves upon waves of frequencies. Interestingly, Gordon “positions sound as a material that is every bit as physical as the visual elements in her work” (Front Gallery, Press Release). I like that considers sound as important to the work as other materials. Hence, she purposefully constructs her installations with objects that sometimes diffuse, absorb, or reflect sound waves.

Figure 2-3. Jacqueline Kiyomi Gordon, A Space for Looking is a Space for Listening (installation views), Western Front, 2016. Ceramic, fabric, extruded aluminum, HSS directional speakers, software. Photo by Maegan Hill-Carroll.

Works Cited

Gordon, Jacqueline Kiyomi (2016). A Space for Looking is a Space for Listening. Installation, Western Front Gallery.

Gordon, Jacqueline Kiyomi (2016). A Space for Looking is a Space for Listening. Press Release, Western Front Gallery.